Children hold candlelight protest after missing school owing to traffic jam 

Local residents said that long traffic snarls are a daily occurrence in many parts of Panathur 

The notorious Bengaluru traffic, which has for years been a topic of discussion, has now led to children missing out on school due to traffic jams. On Wednesday, several children in Panathur held a candlelight protest demanding the repair of roads and ease of traffic flow as they could not reach their school in the morning after being stuck in a traffic jam for 2.5 hours at the S cross of the locality, which is infamous for its narrow road and traffic congestion. 

In a video which went viral on Wednesday, rows of two-wheelers and four-wheelers on one side not moving an inch were seen, while those coming from the other side of the narrow road were struggling to find their way. This video and that of the children’s candlelight protest soon garnered many responses on social media with citizens demanding immediate action from the local MLA Aravind Limbavali and other government authorities. 

The residents said that long traffic snarls are a daily occurrence in many parts of Panathur, especially on the Panathur main road which connects to Marathahalli, Outer Ring Road and Narayanapura. The route is taken by office-goers and several school buses.  

“The traffic peaks to its worst from 8 a.m. to noon and between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. Vehicles on Varthur main road from Panathur to Kadubeesanahalli move at snail’s pace and we have to wait for two to three hours to pass through this hectic road. Meanwhile, there is an underpass being constructed from the past two years which will hopefully ease the traffic congestion,” said Sunil, a business owner in Panathur. 

The residents also demanded that several roads in the locality should be widened soon as it is difficult for two-way traffic to pass on most of them. They reported that several complaints to the local leaders have gone unheard.  

“Do the authorities even care? Citizens will have to keep shaming them into action. When we say authorities, it’s the ground level officials - you can’t blame politicians. The contractors need to be held accountable by authorities but they don’t,” tweeted Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, founder, Biocon Limited, referring to the video.